The memory of evil, Roberto Costantini

Finally I could read the third and last book in the series about commissario Michele Balistreri. 

In the two previous books we saw how he grew up in Tripoli, when Libia was still an Italian colony, but also how the death of his mother that was never solved crippled his life. Anger, frustration and violence were the main ingredients of his life and his job as a policeinspector never mattered to him. 

Until the case in 1982 that went horribly wrong. After that we saw a Michele Balistreri that changed his life and wanted to do better.

The events of the last book, the case of the Invisible man took their toll and Michele is tired of life. He does not want to do anything anymore. He goes into the office everyday but does as little as possible and works hard to make clear to everyone they do not need to come to him for help.

When a young woman and her daughter are killed on a cruiseship, he is definitely not interested, but then it becomes clear the case is linked to previous cases and even the death of his mother. Michele does not want anybody to stop him now and he will find out the truth this time.

The memory of evil is put together very well, it jumps around in the time between 1967, 1970 and 2011. The previous cases from the first books are told again, so for us readers it is no problem in following the different storylines. And this time you get more information and from other perspectives.

The character of Michele Balistreri is now rounded, he finally gets the answers he has been looking for his entire life and he must find a new way. He also most try to reconcile the angry young man he was and the things he did. He is not a good man, but definitely not an evil man and hopefully he now finally has something to give new meaning to life.

Very well done is the way how the history of Libia and the current events are tied into the story, giving more depth to the characters.
That the final solution of who was who (not in Libia but in the US) was a bit far-fetched I gladly forgive Roberto Costantini.
The memory of evil is a perfect last book in and excellent and special trilogy. Well done!

The other two books in the series: 

Original Italian title: Il male non dimentica
Published in 2014
An English translation will be available in September 2015

Comments

  1. I haven't read this series, but it does sound good.

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    Replies
    1. If you like a good thriller, I definately recommend this series, it is very good!

      Kind regards,

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